8 Responses

  1. Lesley Peterson
    Lesley Peterson at |

    Pat, I and Mario first went to Cuba (and Havana) in 1994. Just a few years after the collapse of the Soviet Union and its support for Cuba, people were visibly underfed and terribly thin. Nearly two decades of visits to Cuba later, in various parts, I’m glad to report that a fat Cuban is no longer a rarity, especially in rural areas where hustling up one’s own food is easier. Things are harder in the cities but my heart has been gladdened over the years to see Cuba and Cubans doing better. Though its architectural riches are in dire need of funds (they have sent students to Europe to learn restoration techniques), one recent good news story about Havana is that it is a world leader in urban gardening:
    http://www.dac.dk/en/dac-cities/sustainable-cities/all-cases/food/havana-feeding-the-city-on-urban-agriculture/

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  2. Catherine
    Catherine at |

    Hi Colleen, I remember my sister having a poster of Che Guevara in front of her desk when she was a student at The Sorbonne in Paris in 1968. It was the “1968 Students’ Revolution”. Factory workers joined in but for them the situation didn’t change much, but for the students like my sister, they jumped over the barrier and became part of the “intellectual elite”, the people who could change the world through their ideas.

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  3. Joan and Bill Wilcox
    Joan and Bill Wilcox at |

    I fell in love with Old Havana when I was there in 2009. It was magical. Music, music and more music, and flamenco dancers entertained. Every time we had a sandwich or a coffee, a three piece orchestra appeared. However, beyond the cloistered bit of preserved history, lay a city under construction.

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  4. Edgar
    Edgar at |

    I feel sad reading about Cuba. “…tragic and tired devastation …in need of care and attention…in spite of everything…throughout it all, there is the music…”. But I’m buoyed by your observation: there is hope.

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